Wednesday, January 29, 2025

If you see George Herbert on the road, shoot him.

Sermon for 30 January - Day of Commemoration for George Herbert, priest.

Readings:  Malachi 2.5-7 and Matthew 11.25-end

I’d like us to focus, today, on the calling of priesthood, a vocation as ancient as the scriptures themselves, and as relevant today as it ever was. Our readings, from Malachi and Matthew, offer us profound insights into the nature of this sacred office, while the life and works of George Herbert, a 17th-century priest and poet, provide a compelling example of how these principles can be lived out.  But the title of today’s sermon is ‘If you see George Herbert on the road, shoot him’.

Let’s first review some basic information about George Herbert, himself.  Born in 1593 George Herbert went up to Cambridge in 1614, eventually becoming a fellow of Trinity College. At the age of twenty-five, he became Public Orator in the University and then a Member of Parliament, apparently destined for a life at court. To everyone’s surprise, he then decided to be ordained and, after spending a time with his friend Nicholas Ferrar at Little Gidding, he was made deacon in 1626. He married in 1629, was priested in 1630 and given the care of souls of the parish of Bemerton, near Salisbury, where he spent the rest of his short life.

Herbert wrote prolifically, his hymns still being popular throughout the English-speaking world. His treatise, The Country Parson, on the priestly life, and his poetry, especially The Temple, earned Herbert a leading place in English literature. However, he never neglected the care of the souls of Bemerton, however, and encouraged attendance at daily prayer by his congregation, calling to mind the words of his hymn, ‘Seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise thee’. He died on 1 March 1633  - just three years after his appointment – and was buried in his church at Bemerton two days later.

Turning to our readings for today, Malachi reminds us that the priest is to be a guardian of knowledge, a source of instruction for the people.  Malachi says: "The lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty."  These words resonate across the centuries, highlighting the priest's responsibility to not only preserve the sacred teachings but also to interpret them, to make them relevant to the lives of the community.  It is a call to intellectual rigor, to deep study, and to a constant wrestling with the Word of God.  The priest is not simply a ritualist, but a teacher, a guide, a shepherd leading the flock to the green pastures of understanding.

Compare that model to George Herbert, a man of deep learning and profound devotion.  His poetry, rich in imagery and spiritual insight, continues to inspire and challenge us.  He understood the priest's role as a teacher, and his writings are filled with wisdom and guidance for those seeking to live a life of faith.  He saw the beauty in the everyday, the divine spark in the mundane, and he used his gifts to illuminate the path to God for others.

But Herbert's life, and indeed the lives of many priests of his era, stand in stark contrast to the realities of priestly ministry today.  We hear whispers of a bygone age, of quiet villages, of ample time for study and reflection, of a less bureaucratic, less demanding existence.  We hear tales of priest-naturalists like Gilbert White, who could dedicate their time to observing the wonders of the natural world alongside their pastoral duties.  The image of the priest in those days, often serving a single, small community, seems almost idyllic compared to the complex demands placed upon clergy today.

One modern clergyman, burdened by the pressures of his ministry, famously lamented, "If you see George Herbert on the road, shoot him!"  This cry speaks to a deep frustration.  It acknowledges the disparity between the idealized image of the priest, exemplified by figures like Herbert, and the often overwhelming reality faced by clergy in our time.  The modern priest is not just a spiritual guide, but also a manager, a counsellor, a fundraiser, a community organizer, and a compliance officer navigating a labyrinth of regulations.  The weight of national and diocesan bureaucracy, health and safety concerns, safeguarding responsibilities, and charity law often seems to overshadow the core mission of pastoral care and spiritual leadership.  Many priests have multiple parishes to manage, in a church that has forgotten how to give sufficient money to maintain the parochial pattern of clergy.

Where, then, does this leave us?  How do we reconcile the timeless calling of the priesthood with the changing demands of our world?  How do we, as priests and as congregations, ensure that the essential role of the priest as a guardian of knowledge, as a messenger of the Lord, is not lost amidst the noise and clamour of modern life?

The answer, I believe, lies in a renewed focus on the core principles articulated in our scriptures.  We must remember that the priest's primary responsibility is to speak truth, to proclaim the Gospel, to be a voice for justice and compassion.  This brings us to the recent controversy surrounding Bishop Budde's address to the then-President.  She, like the prophets of old, sought to speak truth to power, to challenge injustice, and to call for a return to the values of love and mercy.  Her actions remind us that the priest's role is not simply to comfort the afflicted, but also to afflict the comfortable, to challenge the status quo, and to stand for what is right, even when it is unpopular.

The world may want its priests to be efficient administrators, skilled in the art of management and compliance. But the world also desperately needs its priests to be prophets, to be voices of conscience, to be beacons of hope in a world often shrouded in darkness.  We must resist the temptation to prioritize efficiency over faithfulness, to sacrifice prophetic witness on the altar of expediency.  We must reclaim our role as guardians of knowledge, as interpreters of the sacred texts, and as messengers of the Lord, speaking truth to power, and offering a vision of a world redeemed by love and justice.  Let us strive to be priests in the tradition of George Herbert, not merely reciting the words of scripture, but embodying them in our lives, and sharing them with courage and compassion.  Let us pray that all priests may be worthy of this sacred calling, and that our ministry may be a blessing to the world.  Amen

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